China bound : John Swire & Sons and its world, 1816-1980 / Robert Bickers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bickers, Robert A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Merchants, Foreign--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Merchants, Foreign.

Merchants, Foreign--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Great Britain--Commerce--China--History--19th century.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Commerce--China--History--20th century.

China--Commerce--Great Britain--History--19th century.

China.

China--Commerce--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Swire Group (Firm)--History.

Swire Group (Firm).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (475 pages)

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Business, 2020.

Summary:

From its origins in Liverpool in 1816, one unusual British firm has threaded a way through two centuries that have seen tumultuous events and epochal transformations in technologies and societies. John Swire & Sons, a small trading company that began by importing dyes, cotton and apples from the Americas, now directs a highly diversified group of interests operating across the globe but with a core focus on Asia. From 1866 its fate was intertwined with developments in China, with the story of steam, and later of flight, and with the movements of people and of goods that made the modern world. China Bound charts the story of the firm, its family owners and staff, its operations, its successes and its disasters, as it endured wars, uprisings and revolutions, the rise and fall of empires - China's, Britain's, Japan's - and the twists and turns of the global economy. This is the story of a business that reshaped Hong Kong, developed Cathay Pacific Airways, dominated China's pre-Second World War shipping industry, and helped pioneer containerization. Robert Bickers' remarkable new book is the history of a business, and of its worlds, of modern China, Britain, and of the globalization that entangled them, of compradors, ship-owners, and seamen, sugar travellers, tea-tasters, and stuff merchants, revolutionaries, pirates and Taipans. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in global commerce, China Bound provides an intimate history that helps explain the shape of Asia today.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

List of Abbreviations

Companies and Institutions

Pronunciation guide

Chapter 1: Taikoo

Chapter 2: Liverpool's World

Chapter 3: Orientation

Chapter 4: Strange Revolution

Chapter 5: Sweet Smell of Hong Kong

Chapter 6: At Work

Chapter 7: Shipping People

Chapter 8: New Eras

Chapter 9: New China

Chapter 10: Building Bridges

Chapter 11: Catastrophe

Chapter 12: Flight

Chapter 13: Making Asia

Chapter 14: Making Hong Kong

Chapter 15: Here

Chapter 16: Today

Acknowledgements

Archival Sources End Notes

List of Illustrations & Photographic Credits

Plates Section 1

Plates Section 2

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781472949967

147294996X

9781472949950

1472949951